“I’m so sorry for your loss.” Andrei looked down, away from Maya’s cold stare. He wasn’t even sure why he’d come. Her letter had said there would be a memorial service and he’d had just enough time to fly in. Being back in his home state after five years was making him feel jumpy. Hopefully he wouldn’t run into anyone he knew, like his parents, since he only planned to stay long enough pay his respects to Cinder’s family before heading back.
“Thank you for coming. I admit, I’m shocked you’re here. You never responded and your phone number doesn’t work anymore.”
Dre shrugged, “I changed my number a while back, although I did call to give Cinder the new number. I guess she never kept it.”
Of course she hadn’t. Why would she? She hadn’t wanted anything to do with him. When Maya nodded in understanding, he had to stop himself from laughing. Even she knew how much Cinder had hated him.
“Did she say anything, leave a note?” He hadn’t meant to ask, but he needed to know. Did she die hating him still?
When Maya started to cry, he felt like an ass. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked; that was so rude of me.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve been fine all day.” She visibly pulled herself together and wiped away an errant tear.
He just stood there awkwardly. He didn’t think she would appreciate his comfort and that left him at a loss.
“She just left me a voicemail. She said, ‘I love you and mom and dad and I’m so very sorry.’ That’s it.”
He knew it was horrible, but he had thought he’d feel worse than he did. Cinder had been his everything for so long, but he didn’t feel like he’d lost everything. He was sad and sorry that she’d felt she needed to take her own life, but he wasn’t…devastated. He couldn’t explain it, he just thought his emotions would be more, somehow.
“If you’ll excuse me, there are some people I need to go speak to,” Maya said.
“Yes, yes of course. Again, my condolences,” he murmured as she walked past him. He would stay here for a little while and then head home.
“Well, fancy meeting you here.”
Dre turned around to find Ariany and Byron standing in front of him. Why? Why was she always popping up! “What are you doing here, Ariany?”
He completely ignored Byron. The bastard had the nerve to show his face at Cinder’s memorial. Like it wasn’t his fault. He’d turned her, even though everyone knew how much she hated werewolves.
“It’s time, Andrei. It’s time to come home and fulfill your end of the bargain. I mean, it’s not like your great love affair can continue now.”
“What? There’s no way in hell. You have nothing to hold over me anymore. Cinder is gone.” Even as he said the words, there was another part of him that felt like it wanted to go with her. He’d been feeling jumpy and just the sound of her voice had calmed him. He narrowed his eyes, what was she doing to him?
She smiled, showing her teeth, “I’ve been patient enough Dre. You belong to me now.”
He wanted to tell her to go to hell, but again, he couldn’t. “What have you done to me?”
“You feel it, don’t you? That’s because your wolf knows its wulfric when it meets her. You are pack now. You vowed by the Witch’s Moon.” She smiled at him.
“What?” There was no way; no way in hell was he going to become part of her pack. Every one of them disgusted him. “Not going to happen, Ariany.”
“Do you really want to cause a scene, here at your beloved’s memorial?”
No. No, he didn’t. The moment he made the decision, that calm feeling came back. Closing his eyes, he balled his hands into fists. If he couldn’t control his wolf, he was in serious trouble.
The Torres Legacy 
Uh-oh. Leave it to Ariany to go to the one place she knew she could find Andrei — Cinder’s memorial service. That hasty decision to agree to Ariany’s terms without full understanding of the Witch’s Moon has come back to bite Dre. Ariany has Dre right where she wants him now. His mind and heart say ‘no,’ but his wolf says, ‘yes.’
As for Byron, had you already revealed that he was the one who turned Cinder? I’m wondering if that’s why she was drawn to him and ignored Dre in a previous chapter.
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Ariany has been searching for Andrei and when she learned of the memorial service, she knew he’d go. Plus, Byron asked her to.
Dre really needs to think before he does things. He is definitely regretting swearing to coming back. But he’s also the son of an engineer and a scientist. He’s smart enough to figure something out. Just as long as he can find some patience.
As for Byron, I kind of thought it was implied, but I added the line in there in case it wasn’t. Oh, oh, oh!!! I JUST thought of a great thing to add to chapter 5. I will explain the whole Byron/Cinder/Dre thing then! Cinder is just dumb. And she was definitely still human at that party.
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Oh, yeah. Cinder was human at that party. Hmph. I would LOVE an explanation to the whole Byron/Cinder/Dre thing! 😀
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Uhoh… hahaha, Andrei might end up stuck with Ariany. He clearly doesn’t like her. o.O LOL. It’s also a mystery why a wolf would have a wulfric that they don’t like, but that could just be me not knowing anything about werewolves. Haha.
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“doesn’t like…” is an understatement. He loathes her – I’m not sure why the intense hate though. I think it’s really just a reflection of his guilt (but that’s just me thinking out loud).
His wolf, on the other hand, respects her power and her Alpha status. It doesn’t know the difference between like and hate. It just knows that she’s the pack leader and it’s sworn to obey her.
Andrei’s wolf is completely indifferent to his wants. It shouldn’t be that way, but he wasn’t raised as pack, so he never bonded with his other half. Sad, really.
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Him not being raised as a pack really makes a lot of sense to his conflicts that he has in his head. That’s a great way to describe his issues. 🙂 He’s not been taught. NOW, I SEE why it is so important for him to be taught at such a young age. I feel like his parent’s did an unwise thing to put him at a disadvantage. However, I also feel for his parent’s not wanting to release him. Oh, the cursed curse. LOL!
Also, I knew this day was coming. Now its here.
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Ahh yes. The fallback for keeping your son…the werewolf. There’s a lot they did wrong, but they also did some things right. I blame Rae!! Lol
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I wonder if Ariany had something to do with the death… to smoke him out… Maybe she even had Byron turn her for that reason – to control Dre through her…
Poor Dre. I feel so bad with him knowing he could have bonded with his wolf, to make this easier for him, to stop the war he feels… 😦
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To be fair to Byron, I think he really did like Cinder. And how else are you supposed to increase your pack if not by turning unsuspecting college students? (I’m just saying…)
He really has a lot of soul searching that needs to happen. He has to figure out who he is.
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Dre is in a really bad position now that Ariany found him. Too bad Rae wouldn’t let him learn more about his werewolf half of his nature. It would have helped him a lot and maybe kept him from swearing on the witch’s moon.
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It is too bad that Rae was couldn’t put her own feelings aside for her son. None of this would have happened but I believe that everything happens for a reason. If he hadn’t sworn, she would have never let Cinder go.
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Looks like no going back for Dre 😦 What’s so bad about being in a pack for Andrei…or is it just Ariany’s pack he despises?
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He loathes a large percentage of her pack. The way they “recruit” is awful.
I should talk about his role in the pack, actually… hmmmm
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Dundundun…Dre’s in trouble now, good chapter.
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Ugh! Taking advantage of Dre at his unrequited love’s funeral? What a jerk! And I knew she was letting him off too easily. Drr… great chapter.
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